Mob Behavior

Decathletes:

I need you to go to page 28 of A Tale of Two Cities. This part of the book is very important because Dickens uses a scene to foreshadow a very important aspect of the French Revolution. He foreshadows the powerful, violent actions of mob behavior.

A mob is defined in several ways...as a large group of people....or ....a group of people who act in an unruly manner.

Mobs are synonmous with the French Revolution.

On page 28 Dickens has his readers witness a bunch of peasants act like a mob when a cask of wine spills open on the street. They all forgot what they were doing and started to dive for the wine, hoping to drink as much as possible. Dickens uses words like "jostle" and "darted" to hint at how mobs usually act violently--but this mob doesn't really act violently. Dickens is careful to say that they that "there was little roughness in the sport, and much playfulness." He even mentions that some men helped women get to the wine.

But keep in mind, he is trying to get us ready for later parts of the novel--when mobs take over France and act violently--very violently, as they get totally out of control.

You know how people get when they are part of a mob. They start to act differently. They do things they normally wouldn't do as individuals. Individuals think they can get away with stuff and take advantage of the anonymity that mobs afford. Mob behavior usually means violent behavior. Think of how L.A. Lakers fans up in L.A. act each time the Lakers win the championship. They start lighting fires and trashing cars all in the name of celebration. How crazy!!! But that's what mobs do! (San Diego doesn't have to worry about mobs because our sports teams never win championships).

Go to page 29 in the book and notice the color of the wine...red. Dickens says on page 29 that the red "stained the streets." And he has that great line where he describes those peasants who had acquired a "tigerish smear on their mouths." Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Of course, you know the color red is meant to foreshadow the color of blood.

There have been many revolutions since the French Revolution where the streets were stained red from the blood spilled by both sides fighting in a revolution. Very rarely does a revolution occur without the spillage of blood on the streets. The revolution that occured in the former country of Czechslovakia in 1989--where they got rid of the Communists rulers-was memorable for being peaceful, and was thus labeled the "Velvet Revolution."

Take a look at the protests going on in Iran. The violence has been limited so far, but blood has been shed. It could be the start of another revolution! Stay tuned. People my age have already seen one revolution occur in Iran, and that one was indeed violent.

I hope everyone is reading!